Encouraging Environmentally-Friendly Power and Transportation Network Operations through a Carbon Subsidy System

To mitigate carbon emissions in the transportation sector, a shift away from gasoline vehicles (GVs) towards new-energy vehicles like electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) is required. However, current research often overlooks the transitional period when GVs, EVs, and HFCVs coexist in significant numbers. This study tackles these challenges by creating a multi-objective optimization model that considers both economic and carbon emission factors. This model aims to harmonize the interrelated activities of power distribution networks and urban transportation networks. Furthermore, an incentive system is introduced through a carbon subsidy mechanism, which provides financial incentives to EV and HFCV users based on their contributions to reducing carbon emissions. The effectiveness of this proposed carbon subsidy mechanism is verified through numerical simulations conducted on an integrated system comprising an IEEE 33-bus electric power grid and a 13-node Nguyen-Dupuis transportation network. These simulations demonstrate the mechanism’s ability to reduce operational costs, decrease carbon emissions in both networks, and motivate drivers to engage in low-carbon demand responses.